Gary Paffett, DTM Champion in 2005, has won three of the last eight DTM races – most recently in Dijon where he started eighth. Paffett has achieved more victories than any other driver this season and is trailing current championship leader Timo Scheider by just seven points going into the last race:
“I won from eighth on the grid last time, and before that, from seventh. Now I need to make up a seven-point deficit in a single race. And that’s exactly what I’ll be going all out for. I won’t be wasting any time on Saturday moping about our handicap weight – even though it costs us around two-tenths of a second per lap. I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, so for that reason, I’m all fired up for Hockenheim.”
Jamie Green, the most successful driver of the season in a year-old vehicle, currently ranked seventh on 23 points and hero of this season’s most thrilling race at the Norisring, where he notched up convincing victories in 2008 and 2009 in one and the same car:
“In Hockenheim we will see a capacity crowd, the atmosphere will be electric and everyone will be going all out for victory. We’ve come to expect that. In the past, I’ve had two pole positions and one win here. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to spring a surprise in the last race of the season, just like I did at the Norisring.”
Ralf Schumacher, the second-most successful German driver in Formula 1 after his brother Michael, will be starting his 21st DTM race at Hockenheim after finishing fifth in Dijon from a sixth-place start on the grid:
“Dijon showed that I’ve headed in the right direction and learning more about DTM with every race I compete in. In Hockenheim, my team and I plan to round off the season in style and it’s wonderful to be aiming so high in front of an even bigger backdrop than in my Formula 1 days.”
Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“After five victories in nine races this season, we’ve accumulated a ten-kilo handicap, which means we hardly go into the Hockenheim race as favourites to win. Despite this, we still intend to put on a magnificent sporting spectacle, just as we have on so many occasions this season, especially in the last race at Dijon. As usual, Mercedes-Benz will be pulling a few surprises out of the bag for the spectators at the grand finale – including the new SLS AMG sports car, a unique parade of Silver Arrows to celebrate our 75th anniversary and test drives for around 5,000 of our visitors over the weekend. We get a tremendous kick out of providing such great entertainment for all the fans at the closing event of the DTM season.”
Source : Mercedes-Benz